Pear and Chocolate Loaf

I love using fresh fruit in cakes … they give such a wonderful moistness to the crumb, and helps to extend the volume without adding too much extra ingredients.

I have been working on this batter for the past month … it has taken me a few goes to get it “right” but I am finally there.

It is a super easy batter to make, and fits perfectly into a large loaf tin (base measurement 25cm x 9.5cm), but I suspect that it would also work beautifully in a 23cm round cake tin although I haven’t done that as yet.

The loaf is delicious just as it is, but I couldn’t help playing around with a chocolate topping that I saw recently in the Weekend Australian newspaper. The recipe comes from Gennaro Contaldo (from “Two Greedy Italians” TV program … loved that show!), and in it he used glucose syrup which is what gives the topping extra shine and allows it to set quickly. I decided to play around with that as I know not everyone would have glucose syrup, and found that golden syrup works well too, but it takes a little longer to set and the shine is not quite so bright. So use whichever one you prefer and have on hand.

This is a really rich chocolate cake which keeps well for a few days at room temperature … hope you love it as much as we do xo

It is a super easy batter to make, and fits perfectly into a large loaf tin (base measurement 25cm x 9.5cm), but I suspect that it would also work beautifully in a 23cm round cake tin although I haven't done that as yet.

The loaf is delicious just as it is, but I couldn't help playing around with a chocolate topping that I saw recently in the Weekend Australian newspaper. The recipe comes from Gennaro Contaldo (from "Two Greedy Italians" TV program ... loved that show!), and in it he used glucose syrup which is what gives the topping extra shine and allows it to set quickly. I decided to play around with that as I know not everyone would have glucose syrup, and found that golden syrup works well too, but it takes a little longer to set and the shine is not quite so bright. So use whichever one you prefer and have on hand.